Orchard Valley Middle School Principal Steve Gregor recently earned his doctorate degree in Instructional Technology and Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University, after completing his dissertation on “Social Networking: Closing the Achievement Between Regular and Special Education Students.”

Gregor assumed the principal’s role at OVMS February 1, 2013 after serving as the district’s social studies supervisor since 2004.

Gregor is a 1981 graduate of Valley Forge Christian College where he earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in education. He completed a master of arts degree in social studies in 1989 and earned his supervisor’s certificate from Rowan University in 1995. Additionally, Gregor earned his principal and school administrator certificates along with a master of arts degree in educational leadership from Thomas Edison State College.

Gregor began his career in education as a teacher of geography, world history, United States history, civics and German at Camden County College from 1984-1989. He spent 1989-2004 as a world and U.S. history teacher at Washington Township High School, earning Teacher of the Year distinction in 1995.

In addition to his high school teaching and supervising roles, Gregor, a Washington Township resident, continues to serve as an adjunct instructor with Microsoft Office Applications and with Rowan University, where he developed the syllabus for the school’s History through Technology course work.

Board of Education members head to NASA

Taking advantage of a recent partnership between the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington Township Board of Education President Ginny Murphy and Vice President Bob Abbott recently ventured on a behind-the-scenes tour of a lifetime.

As a highlight of their trip to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, on April 25, Board of Education Vice President Bob Abbott (left) and Board President Ginny Murphy (right) had the good fortune of meeting astrophysicist and cosmologist John Mather. Mather and his colleague, George Smoot, were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE). This work helped cement the big-bang theory of the universe.

On April 25, Murphy and Abbott joined an invited group on a tour of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. The 15-hour seminar was the first-ever event in which New Jersey administrators, teachers and school board members gathered with NASA scientists and professionals to discuss the importance and future of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum in New Jersey and the country.

In addition to the flight center tour, the group received an overview of the planned James Webb Telescope Satellite, which is scheduled to launch in 2018. NASA officials also provided a virtual robotics tour and hosted a panel discussion with a thermal engineer, an aerospace engineer and an optical engineer, who shared their individual stories and emphasized the importance of STEM curricula.

“It was a great and very worthwhile day,” Abbott said. “The NASA officials emphasized the growing need for engineers nationwide and the importance of introducing STEM concepts as early as elementary school. It gave us a lot to consider.”

“Our educators are charged with the incredible responsibility of preparing college- and career-ready students, but many of those jobs and careers do not even exist today,” Murphy said. “In our constantly changing world, school districts must find resources to incorporate STEM curriculum so we can prepare our students to compete and succeed in a global society.”